If you and your family are planning to cuddle up in front of the old digital yule log this holiday season, you’ve got a number of options to choose from. Netflix has their traditional log-burning fire as well as a Bright-themed digital flaming trashcan, which some poor bastard in marketing thought was a good idea. For the classier holiday revelers, Nick Offerman’s annual enjoyment of Lagavulin Single Malt Scotch is still available for viewing online. But, if you’re the type of family that likes your Christmas morning to be a symbolic condemnation of modern consumerism, why not enjoy this video of some Yeezys roasting on an open fire.
Created by brothers Nikolas and Lukas Bentel—a conceptual artist and digital creative, respectively—the hour and half video features a crackling fire, an accompanying piano score, and the occasional $220 sneaker going up in flames. Yeezys, designed by Kanye West, are a hot commodity in the sneaker world and, like Air Jordans before them, have inspired people to wait in line overnight and spend untold amounts of money. The Bentel brothers hope their video comments on the frivolity and meaninglessness at the heart of this obsessive consumerism.
“For many, the holidays are about consumption. This, in someways, is a critique of that consumption, placing that consuming drive straight into this very wholesome holiday tradition,” Lukas tells New York. Some have questioned whether the shoes being burned are authentic Yeezys, as that would make this quite an expensive art project. But Nikolas assures viewers “there is at least one [real] pair but … in the end, I don’t think it matters.” So, enjoy this cathartic anti-capitalist ritual this season, but also remember to keep the spirit of Yeezy with you all through the year.